THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 33 #13 Wednesday, September 5, 2018
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
Pages 24 & 25 T WEAKING THE NOSE OF CONFORMITY SINCE 1986
Swivel seeks turn in toxic opera Aslan Shand
involved. Our major parties are not interested in change.
In a country like Australia where we believe in relative freedom, artists are seen as cultural figures, offering humorous asides and here and there as a means to challenge the comfortable lives of the citizens. We certainly don’t expect them to be thrown into jail for a provocative meme or a cutting remark about politicians and religious figures. Perhaps if they did get thrown into jail a little more regularly then we’d sit up and listen a little more closely to what is going on in the world around us.
Right-wing nut jobs
Radical steps Not having been jailed, local comedian Mark Swivel has had to take another, more radical route to get our attention. That’s right, he’s planning to become a politician! Of course anyone who’s seen Mr Swivel’s show will know he has been practising for some time for the position of Alternative Prime Minister but now he swears he is ‘deadly serious’ and is determined to make a ‘sincere attempt to get elected’. ‘The campaign evolved from punters saying [about his show] “Hey, that was funny but you should give it a crackl”. So I sat down and wrote a book. A manifesto. And I thought: “yeah, alright then, I will”.’ And you never know, considering the delightful Fraser Anning only needed 19 primary votes in Queensland to get in, perhaps Mark is in with a chance… So what inspired him to run, you ask. I mean it is a damn sight more fun being a comedian... ‘Politics is a toxic soap opera,’ said Mark. ‘We the people need to get
A conversation with Richard di Natale – p8
‘Our populists are right-wing nut jobs. We need people like you and me, especially on the crossbench in the Senate where you can make a difference. ‘I have a strong belief that we need to rebuild our Common Wealth, the public assets and services that we all share. We are in the process of privatising and outsourcing our Common Wealth into oblivion.’ And while Mark has faith in the ‘Austrayan’ people. he’s not asking for us to be ‘great’; he’s only calling for us to be ‘Slightly Better Than Average’. ‘I make no apology for this modest goal,’ said Mark. ‘I am talking, in a way, about restoring – or making anew – many of the features of the Austraya of my childhood. I am not looking for a return of The White Austraya Policy, sacking women when they became pregnant, or terra nullius and the death penalty. ‘I am talking about a country with a future. An Austraya that had an image of itself as friendly and productive, welcoming and hardworking. A country that made cars and films. That punched above its weight.
Will you run? ‘An Austraya with free milk at recess. A country with free university education and a bipartisan commitment to home ownership and social housing.’ In fact Mark is encouraging everyone to have a think about running, especially young people. continued on page 3
Shearwater’s spring fair delights
Taking time out from the buzz of festivities at Shearwater’s Spring Fair, three-year-old Raffaella carefully put paint on bunting at one of the craft stations sprinkled around the Left Bank Road campus. Photo Tree Faerie.
It’s a deal: Byron to buy old hospital site for $1 Byron Shire Council is set to officially purchase the old Mullumbimby Hospital site from NSW Health for $1. But there is a sting in the tail of the state government’s gift: remediation works, including the removal of asbestos, will cost Council around $3 million. Chair of the Mullumbimby Hospital Site Project Reference Group, Cr Jeanette Martin, said the potential for the site was ‘significant’ and she hoped it would create ‘a range of benefits and collective wellbeing for the whole community’. ‘Our community has had a strong sense of ownership of the site since the original hospital opened in 1969,’ she said. The 21-member group was set up
Say no to vagina shame – p11
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mid-last year to advise Council on the best outcome for the site. ‘We know it’s a valuable site – some ideas for future uses include affordable housing, childcare, commercial use, community facilities, education, environmental facilities, mixed-use development, recreation and residential care,’ Cr Martin said. But she admitted, ‘We know the site is not without its challenges, including a well-documented history of asbestos’. Byron Council says it is appointing ‘one of Australia’s leading remediation experts’ to clean up the site and remove the asbestos. Cr Martin said that ‘given the costs of remediation it is important that future generations are not bur-
dened with the expense, which is why we will be looking to generate a return from some of the site’. ‘The safety of our community is the most important consideration and there will be extensive consultation with nearby residents, community organisations and stakeholders about the process,’ she said. ‘The health and wellbeing of the community will not be compromised during the cleanup of the Mullumbimby Hospital site,’ she said. The remediation of the site is expected to take some six months and could start as early as October. A comprehensive communityengagement process will begin shortly.
Glyphosate Home & Garden up for debate feature – p15 – p18-21
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Style & Beauty feature – p26-28
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